Hacked up my front bumper today

[MShreve]

...but not in a bad way. (lol2)

I ran out of other projects and decided to tackle the fog light cut-out that I've been contimplating for a few months. It's not too exciting, but it turned out pretty good...and gave me something to do while drinking beer in the garage. (drinks)

Here's what I found after popping the fog light surround off.

Spent about 2 hours with a 1/4" drill bit, x-acto knife and a 1/2" wood chisel to remove as many of the little diamond blanks as I could without weakening the mounting clips.

Then I took a 1-1/4" hole saw and a 1/4" drill bit to the bumper and removed as much material as I dared.

Popped the fog light surround back on.

Take a step back and you can't even tell.

I took a 20 mile trip up Marine Dr today. My AAT and IAT stayed locked in unison the entire drive. Before my IAT was always between 1-3 degrees above the AAT during long drives.

 

[Blendercloud]

I've been contemplating doing this as well. I'm interested in some really small ductwork to get air to the front brakes. This looks really good. You just have to have the patience to do it.

Nice work!

 

[MShreve]

I'm hoping to see a difference in brake dust between my front wheels now. If I do, then I'm going to cut-out the passenger side too. (drinks)

The MSCAI filter is directly behind the fog light and the wheel well vent is directly behind that, so both should get better air flow.

I like the brake duct idea though. Do you notice fade towards the end of auto-x runs?

 

[MShreve]

I saw a picture of an MS6 (some obscure parts website) where a guy had mounted new fog lights in the recessed section that I cut out and had small pipes mounted inside the stock fog light bezel (not sure what to call it). I originally thought it was for a CAI, but then I noticed it was on the passenger side too. Must have been brake ducts? It looked good either way.

No idea where I saw that picture, but I'll post a link if I ever see it again. I'm pretty sure he was showing pics of an FMIC.

 

[Blendercloud]

I don't notice a lot of brake fade throughout autocross runs. I have to say Mazda did a very good job with braking performance on the MS6. It could always be better though.

 

[SilversunMSP]

Wow that actually looks really good. Cheap and easy too. I was actually contemplating fabricating some CX-9 fog mounts for he MS6 to make it look more like the concept car.

BTW, what's the jackstand at the front resting on, the engine?

 

[Blendercloud]

BTW, what's the jackstand at the front resting on, the engine?

There is a load point on the front right in front of the engine bay. Take a look under there sometime. You'll definitely see it.

 

[Vicspeed6_AZ]

Looks good .. hopefully you don't suck water up in there!

 

[Blendercloud]

Looks good .. hopefully you don't suck water up in there!

You could always buy a HydroShield and cut it up to fit behind the grill on the fog light bezel.

 

[Drizz-OH!]

I think you'd get a better results from cutting a few rows out of the center grille, but looks pretty good as is.

 

[MShreve]

I think you'd get a better results from cutting a few rows out of the center grille, but looks pretty good as is.

I'm not picking up what you're putting down here. (smoke)
Details?

 

[JMEngineer]

The center grille has a crash bar behind it. Cutting out additional rows won't do anything useful unless you cut your crash bar.

It's beyond easy to remove the front bumper on these cars (takes me under 5 minutes). Taking the bumper off makes removing the fog light surround much easier without risking breaking tabs. The part of the bumper behind the surround doesn't really serve any purpose - I cut mine almost completely out except right around the holes for the tabs.

 

[MShreve]

It's beyond easy to remove the front bumper on these cars (takes me under 5 minutes). Taking the bumper off makes removing the fog light surround much easier without risking breaking tabs. The part of the bumper behind the surround doesn't really serve any purpose - I cut mine almost completely out except right around the holes for the tabs.

Good info. I haven't actually taken the bumper off this car yet, but I've heard from several people that it's pretty easy.

I just removed the 3 screws underneath the bumper just in front of the driver's side tire and popped the fog light surround tabs out from behind.

I think you're right about the bumper, I wish I'd done it differently. I didn't remove very much material the first time as I was worried the fog light surround might not fit right if the mounting holes weren't well supported. I'll probably go back and remove the remainder next time I have it pulled apart to clean the CAI filter.